How do you manifest things into your life? Well if there is such a thing as an equation, I’m certainly still trying to figure it out. But four days of obsessively, after reading E Squared by Pam Grout trying have led to some discoveries…

I remember a time in early September when I was so busy that I literally did not have time to doubt myself. When something went wrong or I failed, I had no choice but to quickly move on. There just wasn’t any time to dwell.

In the book “The Best Advice I Ever Got” (a compilation edited together by Katie Couric), Christina Applegate tells a story about seriously injuring her foot during the rehearsal of a broadway show (her broadway debut). They were going to be going on in something like 1 week (don’t quote me on that), and she miraculously healed herself in record time, against all of the doctor’s expectations. She said that during that time, she told herself:

“You don’t have the luxury of negative thought; of listening to the lies we so often tell ourselves; of being talked out of success by your fears.”

I like thinking about doubt as a luxury. I recently read a quote by Dan Zadra where he says “worry is a misuse of the imagination.” I don’t think that it gets much clearer than that.

So when it comes to attracting things that seem impossible (like success, money, health or even a free coffee some days), I think you just need to put your doubt aside and just decide to believe. I’m not saying it’s easy. I mean, I haven’t been able to do it. But I know that it’s an important step in the journey towards success.

And although I didn’t manifest exactly what I wanted this week (a free book), I was the recipient of several  synchronistic occurrences.

On Tuesday, right before settling down for a quick meditation practice, I thought to myself “Wouldn’t it be fun if I could somehow make more money this week.” As I was meditating, the phone did that familiar “new e-mail” ding, and when I checked it after my practice was done, I had a new e-mail from pay pal saying that I had received $160 from an article I’d written for cellamagazine.com. Awesome!

Other synchronistic happenings included:
1. Yesterday morning I had an audition that was a significant distance away at 9:20am. I got there at 9:20 exactly after the two busses and sea bus arrived perfectly on time, and after finding my way to the building and room without any difficulty. It was a bit of an anomaly really. I thought for sure that I was going to be late.

2. After a low day, I decided to beat the blues by doing a workout. After jumping around with Shaun T (from Insanity) I felt in excellent spirits. I was dancing and singing around my apartment when I got an e-mail that I’d been waiting for from my acting coach with some good news!

So how do you squeeze out doubt? I think you squeeze it out by smiling and by believing yourself. We all must recognize doubt for what it is: A wasteful luxury.

“The hardest thing, I think, is to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted and spoiled out of fear for the future or regret for a badly managed past.” – Sylvia Plath

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